Tag Archives: Les Reed

So, the Saints board finally caught up with the rest of us and lost patience with the Argentine Branfoot and gave him his marching orders (#youmarchon) after the frankly diabolical display at Newcastle. Too little too late? Perhaps, but the last couple of days has felt like a fresh start, and for the first time in a long time there would appear to be hope.

Now he is gone, I wish Mr. Pellegrino no ill will, seems like a (too) nice bloke, just wildly out of his depth. I did ‘celebrate’ his sacking though, and I feel no guilt in doing so. This isn’t a bloke on £15k a year who has just been made redundant from the local factory as the result of some Tory inflicted austerity scheme, who now has to worry about how he pays his rent and feed his kids. This is a highly paid man (no doubt already comfortably off from his playing career) who showed incompetence from day one. Worse than that, he didn’t learn and was loyal to the end to his turgid style and failing system. What’s more he didn’t even have the decency to resign when it was plain to see he was taking us down. He will have received a handsome pay off for his trouble and will now be having a lovely holiday in a luxurious resort. With respect Mauricio, I wish you luck in your future endeavours, but I am glad you were fired, please don’t ever darken our door again.

This current Saints board had never been more under pressure. They left the sacking of el confundido far too late, he should have gone after the Leicester debacle and in not removing him sooner have left us staring into the abyss with a very difficult run in. This is self inflicted pressure, and meant the job of replacing him was not an easy one. You could argue the logic behind the appointments of both Pellegrino and Claude Puel, both were employed in pre-season, and both looked like long term options, sadly both failed. Employing someone with 8 games to save the season is a different kettle of fish altogether. Premier League experience is absolutely essential, we aren’t in a position to be letting someone learn as they go, and in Mark Hughes we got the best available.

While Pellegrino floundered on the touchline, it cannot escape attention that the players were not performing to their ability, and that may have been a question of motivation. What we have now in Hughes is someone who knows this league, knows how to organise a team and won’t accept dropping standards of his squad.

To those who I’ve seen complaining about the appointment, I always ask the same question? Who would you have brought in? You can rule out the currently employed. Why would they risk it, when they can wait until the end of the season and see if Saints are still interested, and more importantly what division they are in?

That leaves the unemployed, and risking someone without experience of the Premier League would be one risk too far. The current Saints board are 1 for 2 when it comes to appointing foreign first timers, 1 for 3 would be relegation and their own positions untenable.

Hughes’ record in the Premier League is decent, there is no doubt about that, and despite a poor spell at car crash club QPR and this season with Stoke he would firmly be considered a middle tier manager, and here’s a newsflash. We aren’t a middle tier club at the moment, we are lower tier and in danger of being out of the top flight. Lest we forget, that in removing Hughes, Stoke have ended up with Paul Lambert. A fate worse than death in my opinion. The point is right now we don’t have a ‘project’ to sell to a fashionable foreign manager like we have had in the past, we are in a desperate situation. We should be grateful Hughes has put his reputation (never having been relegated) on the line for us.

Yesterday’s press conference gave everyone a lift. A football man, talking a good game and not the riddle messr’s Puel and Pellegrino gave us. We need grit and we need fight from our squad, they have the talent. Hughes is the man to get it.

It’s time for the fans to stop the infighting and the ‘woe is me’ attitude to go. This is what being a Saints fan is all about. We had it far to easy for far too long and we got comfortable and we got entitled and we got lazy. On Sunday Mark Hughes will start his reign with a trip to league one Wigan and the potential to take us to an FA Cup Semi-Final and as we know from last season once you get a semi anything can happen. Then it is 8 cup finals.

Get behind the manager, get behind the team and as always keep the faith.

In this ever modernising age, Saints have become a club with a far bigger catchment area than just Hampshire/the South Coast of England. As well as a significant rise in Southampton fandom internationally, recent successes have perhaps even persuaded local Southern kids to ditch any ill conceived ideas of supporting a bigger club from further afield.

To that end, it struck me that every Summer we will have new fans arriving in our midst, fresh faced and buoyant with unparalleled levels of optimism. We have to stamp that out. First and foremost being a Saints fan carries huge responsibility. Sure, enjoy the good times, but make absolutely certain you show your worst self at the ‘bad’ (chortle) times.

To help with that, we here at gwc.com have come up with a handy flow chart for new supporters which simply explains how to react to any Saints based news over the Summer! Hope this helps!

Please enjoy this free cut out and keep brown paper bag for when it all becomes too much!

Last Saturday Saints played out an uninspiring draw at home to Watford in what for many was an Anti-Climax to the exciting build up to the start of the season.

Despite a much improved second half it is fair to say that most were left a little deflated by the result and performance against Watford. In many cases feelings ran a little high. In fact, I was staggered to see the level of reaction by many, which frankly resembled a particularly spoiled hysterical child who hadn’t got their own way.

One game into the season and the new manager, the new players, the tactics, the board and anything else related to the club was written off as not good enough. This was less knee jerk, more collective full body spasm. It was ugly.

I watched the game as usual with the Dubai Saints, who I have to say, on the whole are as level headed as you will find [a few years around the block will do that for you eh fellas ;-)]. But even we found ourselves getting into a fairly heated ‘discussion’ about the level of player investment and ‘ambition’ at the club. I’ve grown to hate that word in all honesty. What exactly is ambition? Some would argue finishing in an automatic qualification place for Europe is as ambitious as Saints can realistically get, others would say that the sky is the limit. There is no rules as to what determines ‘ambition’ and only the people in the boardroom will know what they see as a realistic achievement.

High hopes for JWP to push on under Puel.

The centre of our well oiled debate in the ‘Francis Benali Stand’ of the Barasti Beach Bar was whether the club should stick with bringing kids through or spend big to improve the squad now.

It got me wondering what it really is Saints fans want?

I’m yet to meet one who doesn’t take pride in the Academy at the club. When one of our ‘own’ turns out for England it gives us all a lift, and over the years we’ve all loved watching young players make their first team debut and go on to be stars in their own right. It’s something that sets us apart from other clubs. We know it and they know it. Parents are now trying to get their kids into Staplewood and not Carrington (Manchester United) and our facilities and coaching methods have become the blueprint for many of Europe’s top clubs. Ex-Southampton Academy graduates scoring 60% of the 7 goals in a much overhyped game between Arsenal and Liverpool at the weekend is the advertising that keeps the wheel turning!

We love this about our club. We love the fabled ‘pathway’. But at what cost?

Everybody likes to see their club sign players. These days it’s an obsession amongst fans, to the point where they aren’t even really bothered who it is, as long as there is a new face holding up their shirt. It’s all a little camp and kitsch, with the latest monstrosity coming from Manchester United when they announced Paul Pogba. With every passing season football becomes more like the X Factor, classless and lacking in any real substance whatsoever. This is heightened of course by massive fees, transfer deadline day and the hype that surrounds it. Has anyone in history not looked a dick in a yellow tie?

I rest my case.

But still, we all like a new player through the door, and this Summer (and most Summers), Saints fans would have liked a few more. With exits in key positions again, most have been frustrated that like for like replacements have not been brought in.

But where do you draw the line? What is the right balance between keeping the ‘pathway’ and strengthening the squad.

Like it or not, and my impression is that most people do, Saints have positioned themselves in the market as a club that will accept first team players moving on for the right price, and might not necessarily replace them. Why? Because you cannot maintain the ‘pathway’ if you keep blocking it with big money foreign imports.

It’s a long term strategy and one not without it’s risks, but if Les Reed was to take an occasional glance at Saints supporting presences on the web (Hi Les!) he could be forgiven for placing his head in his hands when he sees the same people bemoaning Harrison Reed’s lack of playing time last season, crying over the club not replacing Wanyama this.

For the club to keep attracting the best players into the Academy at a young age there has to be continuous evidence that the club will give those kids a chance at the top level. Logically, if you replace every player that leaves with a like for like copy those kids will be destined to never fulfil their potential at Saints, and eventually other kids will decide it’s not the place to be, especially as others catch up in terms of facilities and methodology.

My hunch is that the modern Southampton supporter would rather see big investment in players each Summer, some would still favour the pathway, while many will be honest enough to admit they aren’t bothered either way as long as the club keeps progressing.

What do #saintsfc fans really want? The 'Pathway' or 'Big Player Investment'? Honest answers.

The obvious answer, though there is no right one, is that the balance has to be correct. The club needs to find a workable solution where the kids get their chance, but the squad is strong enough to compete. I would say they had this pretty close under Mauricio Pochettino.

The blip in all this, was the reign of Ronald Koeman, and it didn’t surprise me when there was talk of the club not being overly disappointed that he was off. As good a job as he did, he took the organisation ‘off message’ and long term that wasn’t what the board wanted.

Claude Puel would appear to be the ‘anti-appointment’ to Koeman. A man with a track record of giving some pretty good players their first opportunities in France. Yes, the first game was a little underwhelming, but when have Saints’ opening day fixtures not been? Let’s give him a chance.

Tomorrow night, we take on Manchester United at Old Trafford. A huge money ‘name’ like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Paul Pogba could win the game for them, but then Matt Targett or James Ward-Prowse could win it for us. Which would be sweeter?

It would appear that we are a matter of hours away from the announcement that Ronald Koeman will be leaving his post at Saints to take over at Everton.

As always when it comes to Summer news surrounding departures at Saints the following things usually happen. Some immediately start to fling mud at the board, accusing them of lacking ambition and conveniently forgetting they’ve overseen seven years of continuous improvement. This reaction would also suggest that these fans take the word of an individual over that of anyone else. Others will instantly find their ‘Dunkirk spirit’ and back the club, insisting that they support the organisation and not an individual. Some will sigh at the rigours of supporting a modern day football club.

I think it is safe to say that we were all sucked in by Ronald’s comments about honouring his contract over the last twelve months. Will we ever learn our lesson? But, there are actually two plausible scenarios as to why this has happened.

Ronald, contrary to what he has said, has proved to be as mercenary as anyone else when it comes to money, and the big bucks on offer from Merseyside saw him abandon his principles.

This is the one that will see people upset, people warmed to Koeman as a person as well as a coach and as pointed out so well by Adam Leitch this has felt a lot more ‘personal’ than previous departures, heightened by the fact that this is a sideways move and not a perceived step up that previous leavers have taken. If this is the case then Ronald might be surprised to see the reaction he gets on his first return to St. Mary’s.

2. The Saints board, wary of entering into a season with a manager in the last year of their contract put a new deal on the table and said sign it or go now.

If this theory is correct then you might find a little bit of sympathy for Ronald. My own opinion is that he was happy at Saints, but unwilling to commit long term as he eyed the possibility of a truly big move in the future (he has publicly mentioned Barca, Chelsea and Arsenal as desired destinations in the past). But here he is in a situation where he has to sign a moderate pay rise extension with Southampton or take the only other option on offer. A big pay rise to a club albeit in a lesser position than Saints right now.

Either way, the sad truth is, for whatever the reason, Koeman clearly did not see his long term future on the South Coast, and that is reason enough to not be too disheartened at his departure.

Let’s not forget. Saints are good at this. We’ve improved with every managerial appointment in the Liebherr era and a short-list will have long been in place.

I can’t help thinking that with Ronald having joined a club whose owner has barely been there five minutes and has already dispensed of one manager, expectations may be high. I would hazard a guess that they might want instant results for making him one of the highest paid coaches in the league and a repeat of last December would put him under incredible pressure. Everton could lose Lukaku and Stones in the transfer window too which won’t help his cause, and with no European football on offer, what might the reported £100 million war chest actually get him?

As is often the case Saints may end up having the last laugh. I wish Ronald all the best and thank him for the joyous two seasons at the helm, but don’t be too surprised if next Summer we are reflecting on another season of progression while a certain Dutchman queues at the Bootle job centre having only led the Toffees to 8th in the Premier League….

Everyone is disappointed with the start to the Premier League campaign. Two largely lacklustre performances have left Saints fans baffled, but the reaction from some has been staggering.

Less knee jerk, than complete body convulsion.

I found myself embroiled in a twitter debate last night and was constantly amazed at the incredulous statements being made by some. Jordy Clasie, having played just one competitive game, was written off as ‘shit’ while Cedric, Juanmi and Stekelenburg were also given a going over by some so called ‘fans’.

Completely ignoring the fact that Saints have played four games so far, winning two, drawing one and losing just one, some of the clubs support have already started bemoaning the quality of transfers and decided that the club is more interest in bringing in revenue than maintaining progress.

Saints comprehensive defeat at home to Everton was of course disappointing, but for me it was more about only having one of last seasons back five playing than it was the quality of the new signings. Couple the lack of familiarity at the back with the loss of Morgan Schneiderlin and it is easy to see how goals have been shipped. There needs to be a period of grace.

This time last year the same people were telling me that Pelle was ‘shit’ and that the club had not replaced the outgoing players well enough. Those players proved them wrong, but they’ve seemingly not learned their lesson and are making the same level of ignorant noise about the class of 2015/16.

‘Progress’ for a club of Saints’ stature and pull has to be done at a steady rate, and so far those in control have proven to be very good at doing just that. The model of spending big on superstars is not Saints’ style and is no more a guarantee of success than anything else. The club, with very few exceptions, do their due diligence when it comes to incoming tranfsers, and in my opinion have earned the right to have our confidence.

To write off the likes of Clasie after so little playing time is actually ludicrous, and often I am surprised that those comments are coming from adults.

If the objective of the Saints owners was purely financially motivated, we wouldn’t be signing established Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese internationals, we would be raiding Hull for the likes of Tom Huddlestone. Saints’ pursuit of a sustainable yet progressive club should be admired not chastised because you feel the need for some instant transfer gratification, and two games into the Premier League season is not the time to be doing it.

To attack those at the club who have got a proven track record of gradual improvement is ungrateful at best. Have some trust in them, support the team, and enjoy the ride, it’s been pretty good so far.

Amongst the many previews out on offer as we approach the (official) start of a new season, none bring together many as many of the voices of those who give up their time to talk about their club. I gathered together the Saints blogging fraternity to see what they expect from the new season.

Which new signing are you most excited about?

Me ‘Cedric has looked impressive in pre-season so far, and looks like he will offer even more going forward than Clyne did. We shall see if he can recreate that level of form in the Premier League.’

Glen de la Cour (from League One Minus Ten) ‘Cedric Soares looks an exciting addition especially as it fits our ethos of selling big and replacing with better quality for less money. The most important though is Jordy Clasie because of the boots he has to fill.’

Connor Armstrong (from All of the websites) ‘For me it’s probably Cédric, so far. It looks like he’ll give us great balance when Bertrand is back too, as well as another genuine attacking threat.’

Sam Dobson (from The Saints Hub) ‘Excited is probably the wrong word, but Cedric Soares looks the most impressive so far’

George Galpin (from St. Mary’s Musings) ‘I’m really excited about Jordy Clasie. Morgan Schneiderlin was a fantastic player for Saints, and will be remembered as an icon of the club’s recent rise. But people move on, and the Utd move is something that not many would be able to say no to.’

Ben Stanfield (from Teamtalk Fanzone) ‘Cedric Soares. I think he looks like a really bright young talent who, in glimpses against Vitesse, showed he will thrive in getting forward to create opportunities for Saints. He looks physically strong, is quick and seems to have an experienced head on young shoulders. The acid test, which hasn’t really been seen yet, is his defending – particularly against Premier League attackers..’

Ben (from Go Marching In) ‘Cédric Soares – Has looked very assured already despite only playing a few games in a Saints shirt. I like his positivity going forward and have a feeling he could bag a couple of goals in his first season.’

Ben McQuaide (from McQuaide’s Musings and SportsPulse) ‘Without a doubt, Jordy Clasie. I’ve wanted him at Southampton for quite a while now and after watching him a fair bit in the Eredivisie I’m convinced he’ll be a hit in the Premier League.’

There’s not been this much pressure on a bloke called Cedric to perform since the Tri-Wizard tournament…

Which Saints player do you think will have the biggest impact (secure move to United/Liverpool/Spurs) on the Premier League this season?

Me ‘Sadio Mane. He is such an exciting player and already making a name for himself. Still only 23 I think he is destined for the top sooner rather than later.’

GdlC ‘Sadio Mane- he will hopefully be better equipped in his 2nd season to keep a high level of performance right through.’

CA ‘It’s going to be Sadio Mané. He’s gonna tear it up. Big Vic will keep being Big Vic too, so he’s another who will have a big impact. Let’s hope that Jay Rodriguez makes his mark too.’

SD ‘Sadio Mane. He will win us games single-handedly .’

GG ‘I really think this is Sadio Mané’s year. He’s settled into the team well, but it was noticeable how much physically he had grown and looks frighteningly quick. He could become a real superstar this season.’

BS ‘Sadio Mane. I’m really looking forward to seeing Sadio have a full season with Saints. He was one of the more consistent performers across last year and has already shown in pre-season that he is ready to go. I think he should, and will, be targeting 20 goals for Saints this season. He could well be the key to us winning a few close games.’

B ‘Sadio Mane – One the most fouled players in the Premier League last season. Feel that if he has another impressive season we’ll be fighting off some big offers for him next summer.’

BM ‘Sadio Mane, if he can maintain or better his form from the second half of last season for a whole season he’s gonna tear teams apart and I think he could score 15+ goals this season.’

The Mane man this season?

How do you rate our transfer business out of 10?

Me ‘So far I would say it is a 7-8, add another centre half, and in my opinion an out and out striker and then it would be higher.’

GdlC ‘Hard to tell until they’ve adapted (or not)…. on the face of it, it looks like an 8 or 9 out of 10. A top quality centre back in addition to Caulker will make it even better.’

CA ‘8/10’

SD ‘6 or 7. Difficult to argue that we won’t be worse off without Clyne and Schneiderlin, but the players that have replaced them aren’t THAT much worse, so we should still be competitive.’

GG ‘If Saints can get the CB to replace Alderweireld, 10 for me. The players who had left all had understandable reasons for going, but once again the transfer committee seem to have brought in the right replacements.’

BS ‘I’d say a 7. We seemed well prepared for any departures but, unlike last year, we didn’t need wholesale changes this summer anyway. If we can get a top-class CB in, like Van Dijk for example, then that 7 can become an 8/9 and I think we’re ready to go!’

B ‘8/10’

BM ‘Probably a 6, the replacements look pretty solid for those that departed but I think we may be slightly weaker than last season, starting XI wise. ‘

Ronald, who was it the fans tweeted you to sign?

Morgan Schneiderlin. Impossible to truly replace?

Me ‘Not impossible but incredibly difficult. I hope the Wanyama/Clasie partnership hits the ground running, if it does then we are going to be fine.’

GdlC ‘Maybe hard to immediately replace but you have to give time for a player to grow into the role. Once Clasie gets used to English football, he may well be that man. He has roughly the same number of caps for Holland as Morgan has for France – all he doesn’t have is the English football experience.’

CA ‘Probably, but we’ve given it a very good go.’

SD ‘He will definitely be missed, but we’re still pretty strong in that area of the pitch. Victor Wanyama is one of the best midfielders around and if Jordy Clasie doesn’t cut it, Harrison Reed will be ready to step up.’

GG ‘In all honesty, he is not impossible to replace, because no one is for a club the size of Southampton. He was an incredible player, but like I said earlier; people move on. Le Tissier retired, Channon left, Nick Holmes, Terry Paine, Rickie Lambert.. They all stopped playing for Saints, but the club is still there.’

BS ‘No player is ever truly irreplaceable. Morgan was a class act, no doubt about that, but I really feel Wanyama can step up to the same level Morgan was playing at each week and become the star of our Midfield. I wish Morgan well but we will survive without him.’

B ‘I think so. The ability to win the ball back, control the game with his distribution and an engine to cover every blade of grass on the pitch. A lot of players only specialise in one of those areas but Morgan was capable of them all. In Jordy Clasie we have a player who can certainly tick a lot of those boxes, but I think he’ll need time to find his feet in the Premier League. But at 24 there’s plenty of time for him to become as integral to Southampton as Morgan was.‘

BM ‘Wouldn’t say irreplaceable, top class player but I think Clasie will replace him well.’

Jordy Clasie will have to soon master the balancing head jump with Big Victor…

Who will win the Premier League?

Me ‘Chelsea, but not as easily as they did last season.’

GdlC ‘Vitesse Arnhem’s feeder club.’

CA ‘Chelsea. Manchester United will push them but the Blues have got the knack.’

SD ‘Man United.’

GG ‘In my opinion, it’ll take a lot to stop Utd if they can add another attacker. ‘

BS ‘If United ‘click’ then I think they could go close – which they should do after the ridiculous amounts of money they’ve spent over the last two years – but I think it’ll be Chelsea’s to lose again. They are generally the epitome of consistency.’

B ‘Arsenal.’

BM ‘Chelsea, again. Despite concerns over Diego Costa’s hamstring.’

I know it was you Fredo…

Who will go down?

Me ‘Bournemouth, Sunderland & Norwich.’

GdlC ‘Tottenham, Liverpool and I don’t really care who else.’

CA ‘Bournemouth, Norwich and Sunderland.’

SD ‘Aston Villa, Leicester and Bournemouth.’

GG ‘Bournemouth, Leicester and Norwich’

BS ‘Watford, Leicester and Norwich.’

B ‘Leicester, Norwich and Watford.’

BM ‘Bournemouth, Norwich and Leicester.’

Both to tumble?

Who do you most want to beat this season?

Me ‘Whoever we get in the cup final.’

GdlC ‘Tottenham.’

CA ‘Liverpool. For obvious reasons. Chelsea and Tottenham are others, but only because I have mates who support them.’

SD ‘Tottenham, we must be due a win against them by now.’

GG ‘Everybody… ;-). For me, I’d like Saints to beat Tottenham, purely because they’re the only team in the top six clubs that I haven’t seen Saints claim all three points from since promotion.’

BS ‘Liverpool and Tottenham. Both for obvious reasons of course!’

B ‘Probably Liverpool. Tottenham was a close second but the scousers win because they have more ex Saints players in their team. It’s got a lot to do with showing that we’re not weaker without them.’

GdlC ‘I am determined to try the mayonnaise option soon! Will get back to you.’

CA ‘Mayonnaise, and lots of it. ‘

SD ‘No Mayonnaise. Sorry Ronald.’

GG ‘I tried chips with mayonnaise in Rotterdam for the Feyenoord friendly, and can see why they love it there. But for me, salt, pepper and vinegar is a winner. So is Reggae Reggae sauce.’

BS ‘I’m afraid this is (probably) the only thing in life that Ronald and I don’t agree on. Chips for me can only ever have one condiment on them – tomato ketchup!! So no mayonnaise for me. Sorry Ron!’

B ‘Mayonnaise. Lots of it.’

BM ‘Mayonnaise, obviously.’

Grim.

You wake up suddenly and find yourself in Fratton Park for a Pompey home game. How do you escape unnoticed?

Me ‘There is a scene in the US zombie drama ‘The Walking Dead’ where the heroes smother themselves in zombie blood and guts and then act brain-dead to blend in and walk freely amongst the zombies. Like that. But using fish guts.’

GdlC ‘Grow an extra finger on each hand, an extra toe on each foot and an eye in the middle of my forehead, sing ‘Amarillo’ and shout ‘I HATE FACKING SCUMMAHS’and then (most importantly) blame the owners for everything. Now that I’m fully blended in… I can leave.’

CA ‘Fratton Park? Isn’t that where the big Tesco’s is now?’

SD ‘Reckon it’ll be pretty easy for me to navigate my way through rows of empty seats.’

GG ‘Stick on a thick coat, and casually walk towards the exit. If they say I can’t get back in, I’ll say I’ve left my car unlocked. Simple!’

BS ‘I’d turn to the only other guy in attendance and advise that I think I’ve left my car unlocked and will be right back….’

B ‘Scary thought. I would probably go for some sort of diversion tactic, saying loudly, “Isn’t that guy over there from HMRC?” and then walk briskly in the other direction.’

BM ‘I think you mean the Portsmouth Dockland Stadium (See below). ‘

When is this finished?

Cheers to all those who took the time to answer questions. We’ll all meet back here in May and see how right (or wrong) we got it!

Given the short notice the response was fantastic and it serves as a good reminder about how good a season Saints had that there were so many varied answers for each award and a couple of the result ran very close.

This is what everyone associated with Saints dreams of getting their hands on at the end of a season:-

So without further ado, here are YOUR winners…

Player of the Year

This was calculated like so:- Each player got 2 points for a vote as winner and one point for a vote as runner up. Here are all those that received votes and their points percentage.

And the winner is….with 41% of the votes the World Record breaking Senegalese…..Sadio Mane!

Performance of the Season (Team or Individual)

Received Votes:- Fonte at Old Trafford (1%), Team v Newcastle at St. Mary’s (1%), Taider v Bayer Leverkusen (1%), Long v Leicester at St. Mary’s (1%), Team v Everton at St. Mary’s (1%), Team at Stamford Bridge (2%), Long v Villa at St. Mary’s (3%), Forster at the Emirates (4%), Team v Arsenal at St. Mary’s (5%), Tadic v Sunderland at St. Mary’s (7%), Mane v Villa at St. Mary’s (13%).

3rd Place:- Team v Villa at St. Mary’s (14%)

2nd Place:- Team at Old Trafford (22%)

And the winner is…..with 24% of the vote I’m not sure it could really have been anything else but…..Team v Sunderland at St. Mary’s!

The Ali Dia Award for Comedy Moment

It says everything about the gallows humour of being a Saints fan that this award always comes with most varied answers. Brace yourselves…

And the joint winners are….with 17% of the vote each, retaining from last year……Connor Armstrong! and embarrasingly…..crstig!

So that concludes this season’s Ali’s! Congratulations and thanks to everyone who voted. A big thank you to Kristian Oake for the Photoshop wizardry! It was another great season, and we are on the verge of another one! Keep the faith!

Sometimes I scroll through the #saintsfc twitter feed and wonder how some of our fanbase might have coped with the mid-90’s.

With only newspapers to go on and the odd snippet of a rumour (taken from that day’s papers) coming round approximately once every 100 seconds on the ceefax ‘other transfer news’ page the need for updates on new signings was fulfilled on fairly irregular basis. The fans of the 70’s of course would scoff at that as a ‘luxury’ .

The twitter era has given anyone with a voice a public platform to speak, even if they’ve got nothing worthwhile to say. So called ‘in the know’ accounts are getting the attention they crave and the tabloids are finding their oh so gullible audience even faster than ever before. The journalists have an instant echo too and some of them only use it when they know they are right, and it gives them an exclusive in every meaning of the word. Others feed off the scraps of their peers regurgitating what they have already seen elsewhere, piecing together nonsense in the hope of looking knowledgeable and taking a ‘scattergun’ approach to hitting the nail on the head. It’s a risky game, and while they lap up the praise when they blindly hit a bullseye (usually with someone else’s dart) they become incredibly precious when there is nowhere to hide when they get it wrong.

All of this just fuels the need for transfer news that the modern fan requires. The medium is instant, so therefore the business should be too right? Wrong.

It’s the panicking I find so frustrating, like whether or not a new world class player is brought in is a matter of life or death. To read some tweets you would think that this was the most important thing in some people’s lives. The period between Toby Alderweireld’s big ‘F*%k You’ and the signing of Jordy Clasie was almost unbearable. Constant whinging about how the club was ‘missing out on it’s top targets’. The evidence for this? Crystal Palace had signed Yohan Cabaye and Aston Villa had signed Idrissa Gueye, two players that the tabloids had linked with a move to St. Mary’s. There is no evidence whatsoever that the club were ever in for the players and arrogantly I would suggest had they been, they would have got them. The club’s main target in midfield was unsurprisingly Koeman’s former protege at Feyenoord and despite the need for about 23 medicals over the course of about 5 days, Les Reed got his man.

You’d think that the signing of a highly rated midfielder, in addition to the Portuguese and Spanish internationals that had already been brought in, oh and the World Cup finalist goalkeeper would mean we would get some respite from the bed wetting and for a few days we did. Football (remember that?) was a timely distraction with Saints looking impressive on their tour of Holland, but then the unfortunate news of an injury to Florin Gardos came to pass. With the club having already confirmed they were looking for a centre half that need suddenly became the focus of the gathered digital masses. Our friends in the media played their part with the use of the words ‘frantic’ in their description of Saints search for a defender and ‘crisis’ to describe the situation.

Now call me crazy, but with a proven proficient Premier League centre back in Maya Yoshida to partner Jose Fonte and the emergence of Jason McCarthy, Jack Stephens and Jordan Turnbull (Swindon rave about the performances of the latter two after their loan last season) I’m not sure ‘crisis’ is the right word. Do I think we should bring another experienced player in that position in? Yes, but only if they are better than we already have, and I do not see the point in panic buying the first one that becomes available.

Bizarrely the press insist on continuously throwing Ron Vlaar’s name into the hat despite his announcement that he has a long term injury and the fact that he is pants, something we saw first hand in our demolition of Villa at the end of last season. Other names that have appeared are Virgil van Dijk from Celtic and James Chester from Hull City (feels good that they are still City doesn’t it?) but they come with varying reviews from the online experts.

The interest level of the average supporter can be measured over the length of time the club has been without a late night announcement. This week for instance many met the news of apparent interest in James Chester with veritable disdain. ‘Not good enough’ and ‘You’ve got to be joking’ to ‘We need someone world class’ and ‘Les needs to get his arse into gear’ could be seen in black and white alongside the numerous complaints about tickets. Give it a week or so though and when Chester is pictured holding the famous shirt aloft the same people will be tweeting ‘Great signing #WeMarchOn’ and ‘Welcome to the club #SaintChester’ and the like. You see the perceived level of the player is completely irrelevant, this is the age of the instant and the signing isn’t the issue, it’s the furore that surrounds it that is important.

I’m as guilty as anyone. It’s easy to get dragged along in the excitement and the package of photographs and videos that come with it from the excellent club media team mean that even the most modest of signings #WelcomeVegard #SaintBignall etc. come with an air of romance.

I’m not asking people to not be excited about transfers, I’m just asking that people show a little restraint. If Saints don’t sign a centre half (I’m pretty sure they will) or they don’t sign one who is world renowned (I’m pretty sure they won’t) perhaps have some faith in the people running the club. They’ve very rarely let us down in the past *cough* OSVALDO *cough* and they know what they are doing.

Bill Shankly famously once said ‘Some people believe football is a matter of life or death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.’ He was wrong. Saints will be fine this season, they might not finish as high in the table again, they might not challenge for honours but they will be there or thereabouts and it will be another cracking season. Try to enjoy it.

This site has successfully made the transition from a League One site with fewer readers but plucky enjoyable output to Premier League site with far more readers from much further reaches!

As has become as traditional as Saints not trying in the FA Cup, we celebrate this occasion with the awarding of the ‘Ali Dia award for services to Southampton’ sponsored this year by New Squeezy Cheesy Peas.

This is an award unlike any other. It is not awarded to the best player or the longest serving but anyone who has done something that has caught our eye in their duty as a Saints. The first year it was awarded to Oscar Gobern and in 2013 the prize was taken by Billy Sharp before Guly got the gong last year but who would add their name to this illustrious list?

The jury (Myself, Ali Dia, Imants Bleidelis and Scott Marshall) found it extremely difficult, as it is every year. When it came down to it though only one man really warranted this award based on the last 12 months.

We here at georgeweahscousin.com are delighted to announce that the fourth winner of the ‘Ali Dia award for services to Southampton’ sponsored by New Squeezy Cheesy Peas, for coming out of a Summer where he was drenched in shit smelling of roses and getting £20 million for Dejan Lovren in the process:- Les Reed!

I know what you did last summer. The title of a horror movie of questionable quality and perhaps a statement that may have seemed relevant for the horror that was the previous transfer window for Southampton fans.

If somebody had said to you then that Ronald Koeman would be cementing foundations in his squad during the January window in the hope that they can maintain their position in the top four and potentially qualify for the Champion’s League you would have shipped them off to the madhouse quicker than a dodgy Graeme Souness signed Liberian legend’s family member. But here we are.

Saints made two signings on deadline day, one that will give Koeman a further option in attack and another that won’t change the look of the squad, but will be a signal of their intentions to their challengers for the top four.